The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, a poem by T. S. Eliot Essay

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, a poem by T. S. Eliot Essay

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“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” a poem by T. S. Eliot, in which Eliot describes a man that was placed in the wrong time period. To do this he references some of Prufrock’s characteristics from other authors, such as Shakespeare. Shymal Bagchee expresses his view on Eliot’s modernist and absurdist viewpoints for the poem in his critical review titled “‘Prufrock’: An Absurdist View of the Poem.”
Prufrock does not express his emotions like a regular person would, one that is connected to their feelings about the opposite sex. He does not fit into the characteristics of the fictional men of his time. Prufrock is considered to be a non- hero. Many other reviews of this poem, “ridicule the poem's main character for his timidity and self-deception” (Bagchee 1). At first glance Prufrock seems to be quiet and allows the word to pass by him, but “he is acutely conscious of the insensitivity and callousness of his society” (1). Prufrock may not be able to convey his feelings to women, but he knows who he is; “No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be; / Am an attendant lord…” (Lines 117- 118). Here Prufrock compares himself to Shakespeare’s Prince Hamlet. Hamlet was a tragic hero, but Prufrock would not go and die to save a world that is as inconsiderate as his. Yet, they have the similarity of being indecisive, and contemplative about what should do in their particular situations.
One might think that, “Prufrock's most urgent wish is to convey his feelings” (Bagchee 1). They might think that because the love song of Prufrock is a song that is never sung or even expressed in the poem. Prufrock’s unheard love song is more of a plea that is crying out as if to say that he wants to connect with women, but there is some kind barr...

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...rces of life, he takes the time to question and assess the damages. He is aware of what is around him while his peers in the poem are clueless about the world around them. Prufrock’s world is made from the agony and despair that is seen in the real world.

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